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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28017351">Settling</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/secretly_a_possum/pseuds/secretly_a_possum'>secretly_a_possum</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>TWDG Daemon AU [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Daemons, Daemon Settling, Gen, how to become a dad in a daemon universe 101</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:33:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>627</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28017351</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/secretly_a_possum/pseuds/secretly_a_possum</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ben just told Lee about the deal he made with the bandits, but he has another confession to make.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lee Everett &amp; Ben Paul</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>TWDG Daemon AU [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1907104</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Settling</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>
  <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A6mon_(His_Dark_Materials)">daemon wikipedia page</a>
  <br/>
</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"You got anything else you want to say?"</p>
<p>Lee's tone was stern, and although Ben could tell that he wasn't truly <em>mad</em> at him, he still felt a wave of shame coursing through his body as he briefly made eye contact with the man before deciding to stare at the train's metal railing instead.</p>
<p>"Actually... there <em>is</em> something," he mumbled. Alessa's ears flattened, and Lee crossed his arms, prompting the teen to quickly clarify : "It's not anything bad! I'm not— I'm not even sure it's <em>that</em> important, really, but I guess you should know either way..."<br/>
As he spoke, he gently reached into his letterman pocket before extending his hand back out with just as much care. He shot a nervous glance at the man in front of him, then slowly opened his hand to reveal his daemon, which was in the shape of a ladybug.</p>
<p>"She settled."</p>
<p>Lee's eyes widened in surprise. He didn't know what he had been expecting, but <em>this</em> certainly wasn't it. He'd briefly wondered, when he had met Ben, if he would get to see the day his daemon would settle, and what she might settle as, but with <em>everything</em> happening recently, the topic had completely slipped his mind. </p>
<p>Ben's daemon had bright red wings, and seven black spots in total. She was bigger than a regular ladybug, as insect daemons had a tendency to be, but in the middle of Ben's palm, she still seemed ridiculously tiny and fragile.<br/>
Lee glanced back up and found that the teen was looking at him expectantly, as if waiting for him to say something. Alessa was the one to speak up first :</p>
<p>"She looks very nice," she said as she leaned her head forward, careful not to brush against Ben's hand, to get a better look at her. Ben's daemon fluttered her wings and crawled up his index finger so she could be closer to the enormous wolf daemon. "What should I call her, now that she has settled?"</p>
<p>Ben withdrew his hand a little, and his gaze wandered back to the previous spot on the metal railing.</p>
<p>"I... I don't know. My— my parents were supposed to be the ones to name her, you know? So I never really thought about what name <em>I</em> would give her...I guess I should have, I just— I didn't really have time to think about it recently. I'm— I'm sorry," he whispered as he rubbed his eyes with his sleeve. </p>
<p>Lee was quiet for a moment. "If you want—" His gaze met the teenager's eyes. "—maybe I could try to find a name for her? That is, if you're okay with me doing that, of course."</p>
<p>"I— you— you'd do that for me?" Lee nodded, and Ben let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you. I— I don't know what to say. That means... a lot to me."</p>
<p>"Of course. Give me a couple of days, and I'll come up with something." He briefly put his hand on Ben's shoulder, then he crossed his arms again as Alessa got up from where she'd been sitting. "I'm going to check up on Clem. See ya."</p>
<p>Ben gave Lee a nod, and the man and his daemon walked away in the direction of the freight car. As soon as the metal door shut, he slumped back on the railing, and he felt his daemon fly away from his hand before landing in his hair.</p>
<p>"See? I told you it wouldn't be that bad," she said to him. He sighed again, and replied "I guess...It could have been a lot worse." </p>
<p>A tiny smile then started to appear on his face as he remembered the promise that Lee had just made him.</p>
<p>"Maybe... maybe things will be okay."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i've been putting off writing this for months but here it (finally) is ! idk if i'll write anything else for this au, i'll see<br/>btw it's past midnight where i live rn and i'm on day five of my new meds which i'm still trying to adapt to so don't judge this too harshly please ^^"<br/>Drop a kudos/comment if you liked reading this!!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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